"It is fantastic that the first match that the Socceroos play on home soil under new Head Coach Graham Arnold is against Korea Republic in Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium," said FFA CEO David Gallop.

“The last time these two teams met in the Final of the AFC Asian Cup in 2015 was a spectacular event that will long live in the memory of all who watched it.

“With the next AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) only five months away, matches like this are a crucial component of tournament preparation and all players will be looking to impress Graham.

“I would like to thank the Queensland Government, Brisbane City Council and Suncorp Stadium for their support for hosting this match in Brisbane,” concluded Gallop.

Having demonstrated their quality in the AFC Champions League, AFC Cup and even at the FIFA World Cup, Asian players have attracted growing interest from European clubs. And as we look forward to January's AFC Asian Cup in the UAE, we cast an eye on six players who made the move to the old continent over the summer.

Kim Pan-gon, who heads the Korea Football Association's (KFA) national team coach appointment committee, said Bento will lead Korea Republic through the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The 49-year-old Portuguese will succeed Shin Tae-yong, who handled Korea Republic at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

After a superb performance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, where Iran beat Morocco 1-0, held Portugal 1-1 and fell 1-0 to Spain, Iran climbed five rungs to 32nd to reclaim their position as the Continent’s best ranked team.

IR Iran had relinquished the top spot to Australia just before the FIFA World Cup.

Australia dropped seven spots to 43rd, while Japan moved six spots up to 55th after reaching the Round of 16 in Russia 2018 to replace Korea Republic at third in Asia..

The Taeguk Warriors’ ranking remained unchanged at 57, while Saudi Arabia dropped three spots to 70th to be positioned as the fourth and fifth highest ranked Asian teams.

They may be the only Asian nation to reach the semi-final of a FIFA World Cup, and they may have participated in the tournament more than any other Asian side, but on the continental stage, Korea Republic have struggled to reach similar heights in recent times.

In the past 59 years Korea Republic have reached the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals on eight occasions and the final in four, yet Asia's most prestigious trophy remained elusive.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) announced several additions to the Socceroos staff on Thursday as Australia’s senior men’s national football team transitions into a new era under one of the A-League’s most successful managers.

Highly experienced Dutch coach René Meulensteen has been appointed as an Assistant Coach to Arnold, while Andrew Clark (High Performance Coordinator (Sports Science), Phil Coles (High Performance Coordinator (Physiotherapy), and Doug Kors (Senior Technical Analyst) have also joined the Socceroos set-up.

Cuper, 62, whose most recent job was with the Egyptian national team, told journalists in the capital Tashkent that Uzbekistan can be "a strong team in Asia" after he was greeted at the airport by dozens of boisterous fans.

Cuper's contract with the "White Wolves" as Uzbekistan's national team is known, runs three years with the possibility of a one-year extension which would take him beyond the 2022 World Cup in Qatar if triggered. 

His first major assignment will be the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 where Uzbekistan are in Group F with Japan, Oman and Turkmenistan.